• Typewriter to Printer Conversion: Current Status

    So I had to learn that the 30 solenoids I got, wont have enough power at the low leverage point I wanted to connect them to the typewriter. Making me wonder to either get stronger ones with same pull-in (7mm would do) or get ones that can pull in 3 cm, will have to investigate…

  • Solenoid test for typewriter to printer conversion

  • Good News Everyone!

    After thorough investigations I believe to have solved the last mechanical challenges to make full control of the typewriter feasible. (in the least invasive / visual way) cartridge return can be done by rolling up a string around the corner and released after it is done OR a motor with gears right behind it and raising…

  • Typewriter to Printer Conversion

    Earlier this year I got myself a typewriter. I was on my way home and spotted this beauty at the local second hand / old / random things store. The owner told me he wants just 50$ for it since it was broken. Challenge accepted. 50$ later I found myself schlepping this very heavy piece…

  • Functional Teeth via Implants

    A couple of weeks ago, I decided to get a tooth replaced, by an implant. My sister and me have this genetic issue, where deciduous teeth (baby teeth) are not replaced by real teeth (I think it is called Hypodontia). Anyway, I just had one and dentists in Austria, during my childhood, told me it…

  • English Idioms learned the hard way.

    Do you know what “being half in the bag” means? I thought I did, until this happened … First, if you know what it means, read on. If you don’t know, or just maybe know, read this! English is not my first language, so while living in an English speaking place, I do sometimes reuse phrases…

  • How a park made a fool out of me, 3 times. True story.

    Considering a downtown park, in a mega city like Toronto, I assumed the following things are impossible, can’t exist or just won’t work. Oh boy, was I wrong: 1. Did you know white squirrels exist? No? Me neither, until I saw one at the park!   2. Checking out the neighbourhood of an apartment we where going to…

  • How to trade in a bad habit for a good one!

    Why aren’t you using the triggers that make you fall into a bad habit, to start a good habit, instead? Have fruit instead of coffee. An apple instead of a smoke. Your brain is a super automator. Decisions you often make, become automatic. Let’s call them habits. Some times when you believe you are still…

  • How to live without cable TV

    After years without a TV in Vienna, we ended up receiving one as a gift after moving to Toronto. Since we did not really miss a TV, it stayed in its box for a while. What made us not miss a TV at all? Our entertainment / information consumption habits had completely changed! It started at University in England: Besides high TV…

  • How following my grandfathers advice brought me to Canada

    Just before I went to study in the UK for a year, my grandfather got serious: “Don’t fall in love with an Englishwomen, it would be such a pain for the family to travel back and forth, on top of the language barrier“. When I got back, I told him I followed his advice: “Her…